did Cecil do when he arrived?”
-He told me nothing could help my dad anymore, and that we had to think about saving me and sparing my mom. He said my dad wouldn’t want me to go to jail for an accident, and that my mom would never get over it if she knew how my dad died. He said he’d tell the cops I spent the weekend with him instead of going up to the farm with my dad.”
about your father’s vehicle? How did it end up being abandoned twenty-five miles away from the farm?”
Billy paused to wipe his eyes again, but they looked dry to Gray. Cecil said it would be better if the cops thought my dad wasn’t at the farm when he disappeared. That way, they wouldn’t search as hard up there and maybe find the old well. Grandpa Cecil said I should drive my dad’s car and follow him down the highway until he found a good place to leave it.”
’re only fourteen. Do you know how to drive?”
Billy shot him a disdainful look. ’ve been driving up at the farm since I was twelve. Driving on the highway when it was snowing wasn’t easy, but I did as good as my dad could have done.”
On the other side of the two-way glass, MacNeil grimaced and looked at Gray. kid is a total sociopath.”
’re almost done, Billy,” Torello said encouragingly. , let’s skip ahead two months to January. The search for your father has been called off, no one is looking around at the farm for him anymore, but you went to see Mr. Elliott and told him you heard Mitchell Wyatt pretending to your mom that he’d never been at the farm. You knew that would make us suspect him, and it would also renew our interest in searching the farm again. Why did you open up that can of worms when you’d gotten away with everything already?”
the developer who bought the Udall place came to see my mom about buying our farm. While he was there, he said they were starting to break some ground and they were going to put a stone wall up on the property line. I knew they’d find the old well, because it was right there.”
, so you were thinking. You were using your head,” Torello said as if that was a compliment. figured they’d find your father’s body, so you tore a button off Wyatt’s coat, drove up there yourself one day, and planted the button under the well cover where it would be found.”
Billy nodded, looking flattered by Torello’s comments.
what made you decide to try to pin everything on Mitchell Wyatt?”
,” Billy said, his face contorting with rage, fucking bastard was acting like he belonged in our family. He was stepping into my father’s place, and my mom was letting him do it. He was staying at our house, looking after my mom, hanging around her. I was supposed to be the man of the family, but she was asking him for advice, not me. He even advised her to sell the farm.
grandpa Cecil was acting just like her about Mitchell. I used to be Grandpa’s favorite. He always said we were a lot alike, but all he cared about was Mitchell after my dad died. He started ignoring me, and then I heard him tell Mom that he wanted to introduce everyone to Mitchell at his birthday party. He said she had to be there, so that everyone would know she’d accepted him into the family, too.”
, Billy. I’m satisfied that you’re telling the whole truth and you’ve got all your facts straight. There’s a tablet and a pen. Go ahead and write everything down just the way you told it to me. You want a Coke or anything?”
want a Dr Pepper,” Billy announced, reaching for the tablet.
about some chili-cheese Fritos to go with that?”
, that would be good. How did you know?”
Torello said nothing, but when he turned away, he sent a meaningful glance toward the two-way mirror. In the last two weeks, they’d canvassed every gas station and convenience store between Chicago and the farm, knowing that Cecil would probably have needed to stop at some point. A clerk in a gas station/convenience store recognized Billy’s photograph. Cecil had sent Billy in with cash to pay for the gasoline so there’d be no credit card record, but while he was inside, Billy decided to pick up a Dr Pepper and his favorite snack food. When the clerk told him she carried only regular Fritos, he’d called the store dump” and her bumpkin.”
can already hear the kind of defense the family is going to stage for this kid,” MacNeil said in resigned disgust. starters, they’ll argue that we have no jurisdiction because the crime occurred outside Cook County. He’s fourteen, so he’ll be tried as a juvenile, and once the Wyatt lawyers get into the act, they’ll persuade the mother to let them claim that little Billy was secretly abused by his daddy. Hell, Cecil is an old man with heart trouble. If he dies before this goes to trial, they’ll change their story and it will turn out that Cecil killed William.”
if I can get to Cecil and make him see reason,” Gray said, turning away and starting down the hall. ’m going to pay a call on him right now, and I want you along for effect.”
Chapter Thirty-six
.WYATT WILLsee you in a few minutes,” Cecil’s butler told Gray. It was sleeting, and a fine sheen of icy droplets clung to Gray’s cashmere coat as the butler helped him off with it and carried it toward the hall closet.
Cecil received him in his study, seated behind a baronial desk and surrounded by portraits of his illustrious ancestors. are your parents, Gray?”
’re fine, thank you.”
The old man studied his features as Gray sat down in front of his desk. take it this isn’t a social call?” he concluded.
’m afraid not.”
He nodded, turned his head toward the departing butler, and said, Henry Bartlett on the phone immediately.”
’s a detective waiting in front to take you down to the station house. Henry can meet you there.”
I being arrested?”
depends on how cooperative you are in the next few minutes. Billy has just given us a statement regarding William’s death.”
did he tell you?”
Gray saw no reason not to answer, since he knew Henry Bartlett would be able to obtain Billy’s statement within a matter of hours. He gave Cecil the high points of Billy’s confession, and when he was finished, Cecil said coolly, “And you believe the boy’s story that I was involved?”
. It has bothered me all along that you kept Mitchell’s existence a secret until January. You met him for the first time in August, and the following month, Edward supposedly fell off his balcony to his death. In November, William vanished. And yet, Cecil, you were unconcerned with the fact that your newfound grandson’s return to the family fold coincided with both these occurrences. In fact, you kept his existence a secret from the police who were investigating both instances. Do you know what that told me?”